


Moth to a Flame: Chapter Eight

by gemini_cole



Series: HenryxPoppy [10]
Category: British Actor RPF, Henry Cavill - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 16:44:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3216194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini_cole/pseuds/gemini_cole





	Moth to a Flame: Chapter Eight

Moth to a Flame

Chapter Eight

 

 

            “Morning, Poppy!”

            Poppy smiled at the security guard as she breezed onto set. It had only been two days, but the change of attitude on the set was palpable. Everyone from security to makeup to the wardrobe department breathed a sigh of relief that Jessica was nowhere to be seen. It was almost like old times.

            _Almost, but not quite,_ Poppy thought to herself, as she stood in line at the coffee cart. Things were still more than a little strained between her and Henry, and unlike nearly every other time, Poppy didn’t know how to read the situation. Was he mad at her? Was he sulking? Embarrassed? By the time she made it to the front of the line she had made up her mind. Time to put this to rest once and for all. Smiling at the new barista, she ordered. “One dirty chai and a black with two sugars, please?”

            Gingerly placing one cup on top of the other, Poppy used her free hand to knock on Henry’s dressing room door. Surprised when it gently swung open, she peeked inside. “Henry? I brought you-oh, sorry!” she broke off when realizing he wasn’t alone.

            “Come in, Poppy. This pertains to you too.” Gary sighed exhaustedly as he watched Henry take the coffee cup from Poppy. Shaking his head he tossed a stack of papers down on the table in Henry’s room. As Poppy glanced around she realized that not only was Gary here, but so was Charlie and several men in suits.

            Poppy frowned as she perched gingerly on the edge of the couch. Taking the lid off her cup, she blew on her chai as she muttered, “Lawyers? Really, Gary, isn’t this a bit much?”

            “Shut it, Poppy. Given all the recent events, I believe a review is in order. The suits are here as a witness. Take a look at the highlighted portions, please. Both of you.”

            Poppy moved briefly as Henry sat next to her, leaning over her shoulder. The wood and spice scent of his cologne enveloped her, and before she lost all sense of concentration, she quickly took a gulp of her drink, forgetting that it was still scalding hot. As she sputtered and coughed, she felt Henry’s hand on her back, and heard him murmur “easy there, Buttercup.”

            She snuck a sideways peak at Henry, but for all intents and purposes he was still concentrating on the paperwork in front of them. She could have sworn she saw a hint of smirk. _Bastard_ _did that on purpose_ , she mused to herself. Resisting the urge to one-up him, she instead tried to focus on the papers in front of her. After mere seconds she realized it was a copy of the contract she had signed when she started the show, specifically the part regarding the “non-fraternization” part. Poppy sat silently, until she felt Henry shift beside her. Determined to keep her mouth shut, she watched as Henry plucked the papers out of her lap and tossed them back onto the table in front of them as he leaned back, stacking his hands behind his head.

            “Well?” Gary demanded.

            “Well, what?” Henry shot back.

            “ Well, do you have any response to this? Poppy, what about you?” Gary leaned forward as the lawyers leaned back passively against the wall. They looked thoroughly uninterested, and at this point, Poppy wondered if they were even really lawyers.

            Poppy began, “Gary, I’ve told you before. Henry and I-“

            “Are none of your business.” Henry finished.

            Poppy gasped and turned to look back at Henry.

            Gary stood, fuming. “Now listen here-“

            Henry shot to his feet, towering over Gary. “No, you listen. Poppy and I are, and have always been, professionals. I refuse to let you treat either of us as idiot teenagers, fucking in closets and whatnot. What we may or may not do on our own personal time is not of interest to you. The end.”

            “It damn well IS of my interest! You work on my show! What’ll I do if this falls apart again? You two can barely look at each other! None of my business, my arse!” Gary thundered, clenching and unclenching his fists.

            Poppy shot to her feet, standing between the two men, as she attempted to placate Gary. “Gary, listen. Henry’s right. We can do this. You won’t have any more issues with us. Please, let us prove it to you, all right? Let Henry and I sort this out. Please?” She guided Gary to the still open door as she spoke. Once there she turned, motioning the others to follow. When they were safely out, she shut the door smartly in their faces, only to hear Gary on the other side shouting, “Next time, one of you goes! That’s it! I won’t have it! Not on _my_ fucking set! Do you understand me?”

            Poppy leaned against the door as she blew a breath out between clenched teeth. “Way to piss of the boss. Really. Nicely done.”

            Henry shrugged. “Nosy wanker.”

            Poppy cracked a smile. “You know, that wasn’t exactly true.”

            He quirked an eyebrow at her, “What part wasn’t true?”

            “The whole “professionals” bit.”

            “How so?”

            Poppy glared witheringly at him. “Henry! We fucked right there on that couch! What part of ‘professional’ is that?”

            He grinned back at her. “Happy memories, darling? And actually, we didn’t fuck, specifically. I finger-fucked you. You came, I didn’t. I did later, but that’s beside the point.”

            “Henry!”

            “Admit it. You missed this.”

            Poppy sighed as she yanked open the door to head to her own dressing room. She hadn’t accomplished exactly what she wanted, but hoped it was at least a step in the right direction. As she moved to leave, she tossed back the rest of her now-cold chai and replied, “let’s just do our best to keep our jobs, shall we? No more fucking, finger or otherwise.”  
            His laugh, and the words “No promises, Buttercup!” floated behind her as she slammed her dressing room door.

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

            Poppy yawned and shrugged her shoulders irritably. The day had been dragging on forever. She was starving and uncomfortable, and all she wanted was to go home and take a hot bath. Hopefully tonight she could finally get ahold of Ben; maybe he would be up for dinner at her place. She sighed again as the director called for a hold and reset.

            “Sister!”

            Poppy snapped out of her reverie. Another thing that was suddenly back to normal now that “big bad Jessica” was gone, Hannah felt free to come to set again. Smiling, she opened her arms, yelling back, “Hannah!” as Hannah rushed over and gave her a huge hug. Poppy gripped Hannah, squeezing tightly and giggling. Suddenly Poppy felt a pop, and an almost imperceptible release. She laughed ruefully as she pulled away, muttering, “Oh shit.”

            Hannah looked at her quizzically. “What?”

            “I think I just broke the stays of my corset. I felt a ‘pop’ in the back where it ties.” Motioning to the wardrobe mistress, she called out, “Hey Donna? Can you come take a look at this?”

            Donna came over and peeked inside the collar of Poppy’s costume, before announcing, “Yup. Needs to be restrung. I’ve got a couple of extras, come with me.”

            Poppy grinned at Hannah. “I’ll be just a minute okay?”

            Hannah waved her off; she was already waving Henry over to talk to him.

            Poppy made her way to the wardrobe departments on set station, turning around so that they could unzip her costume for the necessary adjustments. They were nearly finished when she heard a commotion. A loud voice screamed, “LOOK OUT!” followed by a large crash. The set was dimmed; clearly something happened with the lighting.  Before she could even register the thoughts, people started calling for help. Poppy ran back to set to see what had happened, dread ripping through her.

            There lying underneath the now-broken lighting rig were the bodies of Henry and her sister, both unconscious. Poppy stood, rooted in shock, screaming.

            “ _Hannah!”_


End file.
